Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Trading 0.3% Higher – What’s Next?

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)’s stock price rose 0.3% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $113.90 and last traded at $113.79. Approximately 666,238 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 5,687,015 shares. The stock had previously closed at $113.40.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Edward Jones lowered shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $129.67.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $199.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.45, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $114.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $108.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.65% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.14 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 68.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total value of $16,492,852.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Abbott Laboratories

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. United Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $302,000. ASB Consultores LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 23.3% in the third quarter. ASB Consultores LLC now owns 5,346 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $609,000 after buying an additional 1,010 shares during the last quarter. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.7% in the third quarter. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,209 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,278,000 after buying an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 557,608 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $63,573,000 after buying an additional 2,754 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arlington Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth about $210,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

About Abbott Laboratories

Abbott Laboratories, together with its subsidiaries, discovers, develops, manufactures, and sells health care products worldwide. It operates in four segments: Established Pharmaceutical Products, Diagnostic Products, Nutritional Products, and Medical Devices. The company provides generic pharmaceuticals for the treatment of pancreatic exocrine insufficiency, irritable bowel syndrome or biliary spasm, intrahepatic cholestasis or depressive symptoms, gynecological disorder, hormone replacement therapy, dyslipidemia, hypertension, hypothyroidism, Ménière’s disease and vestibular vertigo, pain, fever, inflammation, and migraine, as well as provides anti-infective clarithromycin, influenza vaccine, and products to regulate physiological rhythm of the colon.